Snow in July

So this morning I opened the curtains and this was waiting for me...

Now, there were many thoughts racing through my head upon seeing this. The first was "I am supposed to be on a fucking beach in Costa Rica right now!" quickly followed by, "And if I head to the airport right now, and pick up a gun along the way (there are lots of guns in Iqaluit. I'm sure I could borrow one) I could hijack a plane and still get there."

(It was around 8 am. I'm not saying I was fully awake or making much sense at that point.)

Then there was the urge to curl up in a ball and sob for a few seconds. Then, finally, a resigned sigh and I went and got a shower.

Mercifully, it was short lived. By 8 this evening, this was the view from the window.

So yes, the snow didn't stay around long. And on the positive side, if you look closely that's an icebreaker out in the bay, which means sealift season is about to start. Ours won't arrive until sometime in August. They're saying the first week, but given that they've never been remotely close to accurate, I suspect it'll be closer to the end of the month.

And yes, there's still ice in the bay. Best not to dwell on that too much today.

Reaction to the snow has been mixed around town. Some where despairing (they tended to be mostly southerners). A chunk of people found it hilarious or didn't see what the big deal was (they tended to be Inuit) and others tried to put a positive spin on it  with comments like "Well, at least it'll kill the first generation of mosquitos." Not so sure about that. I saw one on the kitchen window this evening. They breed them tough up here.

The best comment came from Twitter where one wag wondered if the GN (Government of Nunavut) had closed for the day. You have to be from here to really appreciate it, but let's just say the GN has an...erratic history when it comes to making office closure calls.

Mercifully I didn't read any "Well, so much for climate change" comments or I might have completely lost it. Look, there's two ways to look at this. Climate change is not just the planet getting warmer, it's the planet getting weirder and snow in July, for me, is pretty damn weird. On the other hand, I've only been here eight years. Older Inuit around town were completely non-plussed by this because they saw this all the time when they were younger. It's only in recent years that there's been strange things like no snow in July, or the bay not freezing until January. So I don't think this is evidence that climate change is a hoax or something. I think it's evidence that it's all too real.

But that's just me. Your milage may vary.

Last Five

1. Ringneck loon (live) - Gordon Lightfoot

2. Have you seen your mother? - Rolling Stones

3. In my arms - Snow Patrol

4. A silent army in the trees - Matthew Good*

5. Delirious love - Neil Diamond